rayshaun benny

Don't be between them. [Patrick Barron]

UFR GLOSSARY is here.

FORMATION NOTES: PSU gets weird so some nomenclature reminders. This is Gun Wk Stack, which they used a lot.

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This is Pistol Diamond.

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And a reminder for some of my nomenclature, this is Gun Trips (H) Y-SB:

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Trips is the receiver alignment and I use parentheticals around the (H) because the slot receiver is covered/an ineligible receiver. A dash means motion, so Y-SB means the tight end motioned to a superback spot. "Empty 2x1" means 2 wide to the field, 1 wide to the boundary, and the rest are tight ends. You should be able to interpret the rest of the weirdness from there. You also won't need it again because PSU fired their OC on Sunday.

SUBSTITUTION NOTES: Penn State often used a TE as a slot receiver; M sometimes matched that with regular nickel personnel but often had an extra safety in the slot and moved Sainristil out to cornerback. Snap counts are in the chart now but there was finally a clear delineation between "starters" (Graham, Jenkins, Grant, the four DEs, Colson, Barrett, Paige, Moore, Wilson, Sainristil, and Johnson) and "rotation players" like Goode, Benny, Hausmann, Q-Jo, and Sabb. That's everybody who played.

[After THE JUMP: Draft ding-a-lings.]

[Patrick Barron]

Podcast 15.0A, 15.0B, 15.0C. The Story. Quarterback. Running Back. Wide Receiver. Tight End. Interior OL. Offensive Tackle. Edge.

DEFENSIVE INTERIOR: MOES HURST?

RATING: 5

  Depth Chart
HEAVY Yr. NOSE Yr. TACKLE Yr. OPEN Yr.
Braiden McGregor Jr.* Mason Graham So. Kris Jenkins Jr* Jaylen Harrell Jr*
Derrick Moore So. Kenneth Grant So. Rayshaun Benny So* Josiah Stewart Jr
Kechaun Bennett So.* Cam Goode 6th     TJ Guy So*

To review: this is sort of a 3-4 and sort of a 4-3 under and sort of your bog standard 4-2-5. The interior has three "starters" in that there are three distinct roles, but because it is 2023 there will be two DTs on the field on the large majority of standard downs. Realistically the two starters are Graham and Jenkins, with Grant and Benny backing them up. Grant will get bonus snaps on short yardage when Michigan runs a 5-2 out there.

That out of the way: hell yes. Michigan returns Kris Jenkins, who could have been a day two pick in last year's NFL draft if he left. Jenkins has beefed up again, after beefing up last year. Mason Graham, who lived up to every bit of hype this site could throw at him and then some, will enjoy a freshman to sophomore transition after already checking in as one of the league's best DTs as a true freshman.

Behind these two guaranteed stars are a 340 pound man-planet who made Bruce Feldman's Freaks list last year and a highly touted redshirt sophomore who graded out like Graham in UFR a year ago. This spot is incredibly deep all of a sudden thanks to Michigan's ability to scout up-and-comers.

END: POWERED BY TENDIES

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[Barron]

When KRIS JENKINS arrived on campus he just needed to eat. He was listed at 239 by 247 and showed up at Michigan at 265. He then added no weight in his first year, alarmingly, before adding 20 pounds last year. He tweeted about it and all the Michigan fans did the little hands emoji at him. This year:

Maybe that's the wrong meat to reference though:

Someone get this man an NIL deal STAT.

[After THE JUMP: ye gods]

Gypsy free and feeling fantastic! [Bryan Fuller]

Helpful: The UFR Glossary. Final reminder: Eyabi [was Anoma]'s name is now Eyabi Okie.

Substitution Notes: With scrub season over the depth chart compressed down to 20 guys in the rotation and 22 who played total. M also went small in this one, matching 12 personnel with a nickel and 11 personnel with Makari Paige in for a linebacker. Goode was the 4th DT to play but got bowled around and Benny came in. On the other side, UMD kept trying to get weird matchups with 2 or 3 RBs, multiple tight ends doing WR or RB things, etc.

Formation Notes: Nothing new. Reminder that a position in a parenthetical means he's covered and "Fritz" is a pistol with the QB flanked by two more RBs (or an RB and TE, whatever). L'shanah Tovah!

[After THE JUMP: Oh right, this is what it's like to play a Big Ten team.]

it's all happening 

Abandon backfield!

ah hell chips in the middle 

Caveat Ramus.

Bruce Feldman is this position group's hype man 

Ah. Ah. Ah.

Man your lil bro looks *pissed*.

My deepest apologies to Shaun Nua.

ohohohohohohoh.

The Nua Renaissance is like the European one, if Europe's issue was they weren't allowed to recruit 300-pounders